James McInerney, a retired major general and pilot who helped pioneer the legendary "Wild Weasels" of the Vietnam War, died Oct. 14 at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

The cause of death was heart failure. He was 84.

During more than 30 years in uniform, McInerney was awarded the Air Force Cross, three Silver Stars, seven Distinguished Flying Crosses and dozens of medals. But his most lasting legacy was developing the tactics for pilots whose job it was to fly directly at anti-aircraft fire to take out the missiles and protect other aircraft.

"As an airman, there was none better," David Brog, a retired Air Force colonel who had known McInerney since 1969, said in an interview. "He was a planner, a thinker. He had an ability to make that airplane dance. He's a really great pilot and a great tactician."

While most of McInerney's awards and citations recognize his missions in Vietnam, a mission 12 years earlier is among the most notable.

On May 10, 1955, McInerney flew his F-86F Sabre as the element lead on a flight of eight aircraft during a coastal patrol near North Korea. During the flight, 16 North Korean MiGs began to circle the group above. McInerney, then a lieutenant, immediately engaged the attacking aircraft.

"By exercising superior flying ability and excellent judgment, [McInerney] out­maneuvered them and fired at one, inflicting severe damage on it," McInerney's Air Medal citation reads. "The aircraft was last seen smoking and heading downward indiciating that it was probably destroyed."

The Korean War had been over for two years, but tensions still led to fights in the area.

Most of McInerney's valor awards came from a seven-month stint commanding Wild Weasel units and flying 101 combat missions in Vietnam.

In March 1967, McInerney took command of the 13th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Korat Royal Thai Air Base, Thailand, and later commanded the 44th Tactical Fighter Squadron. The units flew F-105 Thunderchiefs on Wild Weasel missions, where the pilots and specially equipped aircraft would target anti-aircraft missiles, radars and other enemy air defense systems, often drawing their fire away from attacking aircraft.

On. Aug. 11, 1967, McInerney and electronic warfare officer Capt. Fred Shannon led a Wild Weasel flight to attack a heavily defended Paul Doumer Bridge in Hanoi. The bridge served as a central hub of North Vietnam's railway network.

McInerney and Shannon destroyed two SA-2 sites and suppressed four more. They flew through intense anti-aircraft fire, and dodged two SA-2s. The accompanying strike aircraft was able to sever the bridge and, thanks to the Wild Weasels, none of the friendly aircraft was lost.

McInerney, Shannon and three other airmen were awarded the Air Force Cross for the mission, the highest number awarded for one event since World War II.

McInerney's and Shannon's gear from the mission is on display at the National Museum of the Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

Each of McInerney's seven Distinguished Flying Cross citations tells a similar story, of McInerney expertly destroying and suppressing enemy anti-aircraft radars and missiles to allow friendly strike aircraft to complete their mission.

"He knew how to do that Wild Weasel mission," Brog said. "He set some of the standards, he set many of the standards by which the rest of us flew.''

Following his deployment to Vietnam, McInerney worked at Headquarters Pacific Air Forces and studied at the National War College. He worked in the Pentagon, commanded units in Germany and Turkey, then returned to Washington in 1975 to serve as director of military assistance and sales. He retired in 1980 as director of programs for the deputy chief of staff, programs and analysis.

After retirement, McInerney was a legislative specialist with McDonnell Douglas and a vice president of the National Defense Industrial Association, according to an obituary in The Washington Post.

McInerney was born in 1930 in Springfield, Massachusetts, and graduated from Georgia Military Academy. He enlisted in the Army in 1947 and served as a parachute infantryman until 1948 when he entered the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York. He graduated and attended flying schools and was first assigned to Air Defense Command as a fighter-interceptor pilot before his mission in Korea.

McInerney's wife, Mary Catherine Hill McInerney, died in 2011. He is survived by two children, Anne McInerney of Chevy Chase, Maryland, and Jake McInerney of Alexandria, Virginia; a brother, retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Tom McInerney of Washington; and a sister, Patricia Whitaker of Sanibel, Florida.

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